The standard methodology used in utilizing fossil fuels for heating is firing the fuel in a controlled heating chamber or heat exchanger. The heat created by the burning fuel is drawn away by air or water flowing around the outside of the heat exchanger. This can be accomplished by blower fans or pumps. The heat is transferred into the surrounding air or water, heating the conditioned space. The waste or emissions from the combustion reaction is allowed to flow outdoors usually utilizing flue piping to a chimney or stack. The efficiency of the furnace or boiler is calculated by the amount of heat which can be extracted from the heat exchanger and utilized to heat the conditioned space and the percentage of heat and by-products permitted to escape through the flue to be vented outside. This rating or efficiency quantification is placed on the furnace or boiler to depict how efficient it will be.
Releasing carbon and heat saturated emissions into the atmosphere contribute to environmental problems, such as global warming. Not only does carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide add to blanketing the release of heat into space, discharging heat through flue gas emissions adds to this issue by heat pollution. Just an average low to medium efficient residential natural gas, LPG or oil furnace can emit one million BTU's of heat waste into the atmosphere each day. Commercial and industrial units can discharge hundreds of millions, and occasionally billions, of BTU's per unit per day. In addition, these common and traditional methods of discharging the flue gas into the atmosphere are wasteful and inefficient.